Red and Black Hockey

Entries with the tag: chicago blackhawks

On a rare snowy day in Raleigh, the Hurricanes welcomed one of the best teams in the league in the Chicago Blackhawks. Andrew Ladd and a few other Hawks had a slumber party at Eric Staal’s house, but the Canes weren’t as kind to the visitors once they got inside the RBC Center. Carolina stretched their winning streak to four games with a 4-2 victory. With tonight’s result, the Blackhawks have not won in North Carolina since a 4-1 victory on January 14, 1998. Jeff Hackett was the goalie for the Hawks that night.

A big storm came through on Friday night, dumping at least eight inches of snow on most of North Carolina. Everything was business as usual at the RBC Center, though. NC State played a basketball game and the Canes game went on without a hitch. The crowd was a sparse 7000, but those who drove through the ice and snow were treated to a great game.

In this season’s playoffs, I correctly picked seven of eight matchups in the first round and three of four in the second round. Cumulatively, I have 10 correct picks and only two incorrect. Interestingly enough, the only series that I missed in the second round was Carolina/Boston. As much as I love my team, I didn’t think they had enough to knock off the Bs.

The Conference finals begin tomorrow, and it’s time to get my picks out in the open. This time, I’ll give a little bit of analysis.

First, the West.
I’ll pick experience over innocence. Wings in six. The last time the Blackhawks made a playoff run this deep, Pat Kane and Jonathan Toews were six years old. Their roster is loaded with some very skilled, but very young players. None of us need a refresher about Detroit’s playoff history or the age of their roster.